In praise of... Emma Thompson

Her chatshow appearances are often ungainly, as if, like Liza Minnelli on Ruby Wax, she might at any moment tip from high-spirited into something madder. On Jonathan Ross last week Emma Thompson was nervous, throwing herself about on the sofa, laughing too wildly at her own and Mr Ross's jokes. But unless you are one of those people for whom she is forever the smug Cambridge student, one could only watch and conclude: good woman.

Fleet Street has overdone the boring bitchiness about Ms Thompson for about two decades now. But, at 46, she is handsomely regaining the advantage. With Mr Ross she talked insightfully about the differences between male and female comedy writers; her awkwardness seemed, in context, how any regular person might perform under pain of comparison to the next guest, Jordan. Ms Thompson does not just look good on a cinema screen; she is also thoughtful, brainy and articulate. Above all she is, and always has been, one of Britain's very best stage and screen actors.

Ms Thompson provides the only serious performance in Love Actually; in Sense and Sensibility she has a small, gulping breakdown in response to the happy news that Edward Ferrars is, indeed, available for marriage. These are scenes that remain with you long after you've left the cinema. Her new film, Nanny McPhee, is out on Friday. That it has taken her seven years to write is confirmation of her integrity. It is good to have her back.